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genetic disorders: unpredictable and unforgiving

Everyone likes to think of themselves as the type that is not judgmental, but if each of us could put ourselves in the place of someone with any type of deformity, we would quickly find that most people are indeed judgmental. We judge whether someone is black or white, skinny or fat, freckles or a big nose, and for women the importance of physical beauty is held to a higher standard than men. Genes dictate most of this to us. Genes decide if we will be blonde or brunette, if we will be short or tall, and even our bone structure. On my mothers side of the family my ancestors suffer from a dental disease called microdontia. It is a genetic disorder which causes adolescent teeth to be replaced with more adolescent teeth instead of permanent adult teeth. This makes teeth very small and brittle with very short roots. On my fathers side if the family his ancestors have been plagued with anadontia which is a similar disorder to microdontia except when adolescent teeth are lost they are not replaced at all. These genes have been passed and mixed through our families in very unpleasant variations.My parents had four children. My two brothers have always had large beautifully straight teeth and never requiring more than cleanings at each dentist visit. But my sister and I were not so lucky. Not only did we acquire one of the unwanted family curses but they remain codominant in our genes, both presenting strongly in my sister and I alike. The lack of teeth has left not only issues eating due to missing teeth but we both presented with spaces between our front teeth larger than the eraser on a pencil. This is not a difference that children take lightly. I have been the subject of jokes, ridicule and insults about my teeth since I can remember. People did not seem to take me seriously as I got older when they would look at me and I could see the judgment in their eyes chalking me up to your classic dumb redneck. I spent year after year hearing "field goal" and "the girl with the gap". It was becoming what I was known for. I had love for myself and the way I looked, but the comments from children (not intending insult), and from people who swore I was so pretty that my teeth ruined it and such that I chose to start the beginning of five to six years of ongoing orthodontics and dental surgeries to repair genetic flaws equalling over sixteen thousand dollars.

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Some teeth would not survive the procedures let alone ten more years of use and had to be removed. Then I was put in braces for nearly three years to completely remodel my teeth altogether. We bunched up the remaining healthy teeth in quadrants accumulating all of the empty space into four areas. Then when all of the roots were placed correctly and no tooth was in its original place, surgeons drilled four shallow holes in my gums placing in four threaded pieces of metal. After six months of healing implants were placed in the metal hardware completing my smile. So for the price of a brand new truck and years of my pain and suffering I have finally made it pleasant for everyone else to look at me. My sister has not undergone any work and is miserable. But how can I encourage her when the experience was not positive in any way for me? The thought that it is in my genes is never far from my mind regardless of how far I have come. My son is seven years old now and has lost his first teeth this year. I take him to his dentist three times a year or more and request x rays of incoming teeth and root structures whenever possible. My husband has amazing teeth as does his entire family. So everyday when I obsessively check my sons mouth and the state of his incoming permanent teeth (and their flawlessness) I keep in mind that my husbands good dental genes paired with the fact that these disorders do not always present calms my mind a bit in worrying for my own child. I know that one day my son will have children of his own and grandma will want to check for possible symptoms regularly because I know that these cursed genes that were given to me will pass on to my family for generations to come no matter how minuet the chances of presentation remain. Being born different in that way is not something I wish for anyone to experience especially loved ones. It is both amazing and scary at the same time that something as small as a gene can control everything about a person whether in a positive or negative way.

For a video with play by play animation of situations like mine please view this :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54GebKFcoao